Hermantown City Council votes on zoning change for possible data center project

Our Take

Credit to WDIO for actually showing up and filming the room — because the room is the story here. Overflow crowds, hours of public comment, people outside the building: that's what it looks like when a city tries to fast-track 220 acres of rezoning for a project most residents heard about only recently. The engineers' pitch hit the standard notes — no water cooling, compliant lighting and noise — which is exactly the reassurance package every hyperscale project leads with before ground gets broken. Absence of water cooling is worth watching for, not just taking at face value once the facility is operational and expanding.

Minnesota Power sitting at the table matters too. When the utility helps sell the project to the council, ratepayers should ask who covers the grid upgrades and transmission costs a facility like this requires, and whether "increased tax revenue" nets out after infrastructure commitments, incentives, and any tax abatements get factored in. Jobs and tax base are real, but so are the multi-decade power purchase agreements and load growth that data centers lock a region into — decisions made in one council meeting outlast most of the officials who voted on them.

Hermantown isn't unique — it's the same script playing out in small towns across the country, just with different zip codes and slightly different promises. If you want to see how this compares to other builds nationwide, check our facility map, and if you want tools for engaging your own local government before the vote happens, not after, visit take action.